Editing Black Garden

|connecting areas= [[Tharsis Junction]] <small>(quest only)</small><br>[[Valley of the Kings]]<br>[[Lunar Battlegrounds]] <small>(Raid only)</small>

The '''Black Garden''' is a mysterious realm located outside of space and time. Described as the birthplace of the [[Vex]], It houses the [[Black Heart]], a failed replica of [[The Veil|the Veil]] that is used to weaken [[The Traveler|the Traveler]], and is tended and guarded by the Vex collective known as the [[Sol Divisive]], led by 3 frames collectively called the [[Sol Progeny]].<ref name = "Destiny">'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''[[Destiny]]''</ref>. It was also the lair once used by [[Taranis]] to make his nest before making his final wish to scatter his and [[Riven]]'s clutch.

The nature, origin and purpose of the Black Garden remains shrouded in mystery. According to [[Pujari]], the Garden is a reflection of the Traveler's actions: when it terraformed [[Mars]], the Garden either came to be or changed in response. The mesa-like structure in the center of the Garden strongly resembles the [[Cradle]] left behind by the Traveler on [[Io]], which was also seemingly a product of the Traveler's terraforming activities. However, it was not created by the Traveler.<ref name = "Pujari"/> When the Sol Divisive Vex arrived, they attempted to control it and impose their own changes through rigorous engineering and earth-moving.<ref name="In the Garden">'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:The Forsaken Prince#In the Garden|In the Garden]]''</ref>

The Black Garden is a place where ''"everything grows"''  and where ''"abstract patterns war for survival, fighting to propagate themselves by preying on each other."''<ref name = "In the Garden"/><ref name="On the Hunt">'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:The Forsaken Prince#On the Hunt|On the Hunt]]''</ref> Thoughts such as ideas and concepts are carried on the wind in the form of whispers, ''"sentences with just the beginnings of syntax"''. Introducing new ideas into its conceptual environment, such as through speech, causes those ideas to "take root" in the Garden. Uldren conversing to a [[Cabal]] [[Legionary]] in Ulurant led to the whispers taking on aspects of Ulurant grammar. Even the Vex there sing (''"faint, wraithlike notes of inhuman clarity"'') to ''"see how the Garden changes their song."''<ref name="On the Hunt"/> The Sol Divisive Vex are particularly interested in the Black Garden because its effects on them ''"[grow] them toward what they want to be."''<ref name="After Part 2">'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:The Forsaken Prince#After the Heart | Part II|After the Heart | Part II]]''</ref>

Prolonged exposure to the Black Garden's environment can be dangerous. The concepts being whispered there are potentially a contagious "brainstain" hazard. The Legionary who Uldren spoke to had been exposed to the Garden for an unknown length of time, and ended up having its "secrets" grown into him in the form of thousands of tiny seeds pockmarking his skull, imparting him with knowledge of the Vex.<ref name="On the Hunt"/> It is even stated that everything that dwells in the Garden becomes symbiotic with it as an extension of its growth, whether it be shedding leaves that fertilize the soil, or the bones or unspoken thoughts of individuals.  

The sky of the Martian Black Garden initially appeared as a thick green veil of mist but after the destruction of the Black Heart, it appeared more clear and centered in what appeared to be in a cavern within the Martian landscape. The Lunar Black Garden also appeared with a misty sky, but with three Suns along with a planet and its orbiting moon.  

The Black Garden initially existed on a separate plane that the Vex kept locked outside of time; the only known way to access the Garden is through the gate network, requiring the authority of a [[Gate Lord]]. After the Black Heart was destroyed, however, the Garden became a part of contemporary time and space, accessible from a gateway at the [[Valley of the Kings]] on Mars. During the Taken War, an [[Echo of Oryx]] and a coven of [[Taken]] broke into the Garden by burrowing a new gate from [[Tharsis Junction]], creating a new separate entrance that was closed sometime afterwards. Eventually, the gate at the Valley was destroyed upon the [[Red Legion]]'s invasion of Mars.

Many years later, a Vex gate was uncovered hidden beneath the [[Lunar Battlegrounds]] on [[Luna]]. This gate may be the means by which [[Crota]] and his broods appeared on the moon after being thrown into the Vex gate network.

The origins of the Black Garden are largely unknown; however, it bears many similarities to an allegorical description of the primordial state of reality, itself described as a "[[garden]]", in which the Winnower and the Gardener existed before the universe began. It is unclear whether the two locations are the same; however, [[Eris Morn]] writes of a [[Tree of Silver Wings]] that was felled in the Black Garden, which would seem to suggest that she believes the Black Garden to indeed be the same as the primordial garden that gave rise to the universe.

At some point, the Vex collective known as the Sol Divisive came to reside within the Black Garden, transforming it with their architecture and machinery where the [[Conceptual Mind]] would construct the Black Heart from a seed that had been planted in the Black Garden by the [[The Witness|Witness]].<ref>'''Bungie (02/28/2023)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Lightfall]], [[Lore:Inspiral]]: [[Lore:Inspiral#Brass Gardeners|Brass Gardeners]]''</ref>

Long before anyone from the Last City set foot in the Garden, tales of its existence were told throughout the system. The [[Warlock]] Pujari had a vision of the Garden when he drowned himself in the waters of the [[Shores of Time]].<ref name = "Pujari">'''Bungie (2014-9-9)''', ''Destiny, [[Grimoire]]: [[Grimoire:Allies#Legend: The Black Garden|Legend: The Black Garden]]''</ref> Pujari's vision mentions that the Black Garden's existence is related to the Traveler's coming to Mars; the Traveler did not create the Garden, Pujari claims, but its actions may have allowed the Garden to come into existence. Pujari also stated that "The Garden grows in both directions. It grows into tomorrow and yesterday. The red flowers bloom forever. There are gardeners now. They came into the garden in vessels of bronze and they move through the groves in rivers of thought."<ref name = "Pujari"/> The "gardeners" in question are most likely the Vex; Pujari's vision suggests that the Vex did not always inhabit the Black Garden, but came to existence after the life within the Garden called out a question, to which the Vex reached out as the answer.

The [[Cloud Strider]] [[Rohan]] of [[Neomuna]] stumbled upon the Black Garden early in his career, after being tasked with guarding the [[CloudArk]]-[[Nexus]] border by his mentor [[Tramontane]]. While trying to find a way out of the Garden, he witnessed the creation of the Black Heart by the [[Conceptual Mind]], and deduced that it was an attempt by the Sol Divisive to replicate the Veil. He also overheard the voice of one of [[Maya Sundaresh]]'s many Vex-simulated copies, presumably as she conversed with her fellow simulated [[Ishtar Collective]] members.<ref>'''Bungie (02/20/2023)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Lightfall]], [[Deterministic Chaos]] lore tab''</ref>

Some time later, a pair of [[Awoken]] from the [[Reef]], [[Uldren Sov]] and [[Jolyon Till]], explored the Black Garden. By then, the location of the Vex gate leading to it was common knowledge, as well as the fact that it could only be entered by tricking the Vex into opening it for them. To enter it, Uldren and Jolyon provoked a Cabal attack on the gate, forcing it to activate and produce a Gate Lord to defend it, and then slipped in while it was distracted.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:The Forsaken Prince#Through the Gate|Through the Gate]]''</ref> While in the Garden, they witnessed many bizarre sights: plants with roots of circuitry, vines with thorns shaped like letters, beetles that wrestled with each other despite being only hollow exoskeletons.<ref name= "In the Garden"/> They came across the site of a Cabal-Vex battle and interrogated one of the surviving legionaries, who claimed that he had been kidnapped by the Vex. They discovered that the Garden had been slowly assimilating him in the form of seeds growing into his flesh.<ref name="On the Hunt"/> After that point, Uldren's recollections grew surreal and dreamlike. His memories included a persistent heartbeat, fleeing through a thorny grove among fruits shaped like [[Ghost]]s, hiding with Jolyon from arguing voices, and putting his [[Crow (device)|Crows]] through a dryer in an apartment block with a perfectly round hole in his hand. Uldren and Jolyon somehow found their way out, bringing some of the native [[Asphodelia|red flowers]] back to the Reef.<ref>'''Bungie (2018/9/4)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Forsaken]], [[Lore]]: [[Lore:The Forsaken Prince#After the Heart | Part I|After the Heart | Part I]]''</ref><ref name="After Part 2"/>

The Garden is also where the famed [[Nightstalker]] [[Tevis Larsen]] died after being trapped without his Ghost.

After learning of the Black Garden's existence from the [[Elisabeth Bray|Exo Stranger]], [[the Guardian]] traveled to the Reef to get information about the Garden's location. Queen [[Mara Sov]] and Prince Uldren Sov revealed that a Vex portal on Mars led to the Garden, but required the eye of a [[Zydron, Gate Lord|Gate Lord]] to access. After obtaining the Eye, the Guardian activated the Vex spire controlling the portal and then passed through the portal.<ref>[http://www.destinydb.com/activities/3467097080-the-gardens-spire '''Destinydb''': ''The Garden's Spire'']</ref> Deep in the Garden, the Guardian discovered the Black Heart, guarded by the [[Sol Progeny]] as it drained the Traveler's [[Light]] and kept it dormant.<ref>[http://www.destinydb.com/activities/1577957526-the-black-garden '''Destinydb''': ''The Black Garden'']</ref> The Guardian defeated the Progeny, which in turn caused the destruction of the Heart. As a result, Light returned to the Traveler and it began to heal. The Garden also ceased to drift between dimensions and was relocated to Mars, making it accessible to the rest of the Guardians.<ref name = "Destiny"/>

Later, [[The Undying Mind]] arrived in the Garden and attempted to revive the Black Heart with assistance from the [[Sol Primeval]]. The Mind also attempted to separate the Garden from our timeline, but it was destroyed before it could do either.  

During the [[Taken War]], [[Oryx, the Taken King]] sent an expeditionary force of Taken into the garden to investigate and possibly restore the Black Heart. An Echo of Oryx and its Taken coven invaded the Garden through secret tunnels under [[Freehold]]. The [[Sol Divisive]] were overwhelmed by the Taken as the Garden became a war zone. Only through [[Guardian]] intervention were the Taken expelled.

{{quote|The Vex there are having a heck of a time with the Red Legion, it seems like. ''Garden Gate gone. Bay lost. Bastion fallen.'' Huh.|Ghost, Conflux by Well of Flame}}

During the [[Red War]], the Red Legion invaded Mars and broke the Vex stalemate with the Cabal invasion. In addition to occupying Mars, the Red Legion destroyed the main gate used to access the Black Garden, irrevocably sealing the Garden for the Vex. On Nessus, an access point reports of more than one garden similar to the Black Garden, it is unclear as to how many are being built or are destroyed, even the foliage on the access outside of the garden is somehow enhancing Vex firewall systems while still being organic and something else <ref>[https://www.ishtar-collective.net/transcripts/ghost-scan-the-tangle-nessus-3?highlight=garden Ghost Scan]</ref>.

At some point before the death of [[Cayde-6]], a [[Kentarch 3|trio of Guardians]] composed of the Titan [[Yardarm-4]], the Hunter [[Lisbon-13]], and led by the Warlock [[Rekkana]], ventured into the Black Garden to find secrets about its origin. There they plundered an ancient [[Divinity|relic]] long revered by the Vex of the garden.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/5)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]], [[Divinity]]''</ref> However, after repelling significant Vex resistance, the three Guardians lost their Light after hearing whispers that their [[Ghost]]s could not detect. Afterwards, they made a deal with an unknown force, granting them strange powers, and eventually causing Lisbon-13 to turn on Rekkana and Yardarm-4. However, the outcome of these events is unknown, as their bodies were never found by a Vanguard scouting team.<ref>'''Bungie (2019/10/1)''', ''[[Destiny 2]]: [[Shadowkeep]], [[Never Live It Down]]''</ref>

Years later, the Guardians encountered a Vex Minotaur named [[Zeteon, Redemptive Mind]] entering the [[Moon]] from the Black Garden. Upon its destruction, a Vex artifact containing a link to the aftermath of the Kentarch-3 incident and the "divinity" they found in the Garden was discovered in its remains, a lead which the Guardian followed into the depths of the Garden in conjunction with the [[Unknown Artifact]]'s signal mentioned below. After the [[Sanctified Mind, Sol Inherent|Sanctified Mind]] was shut down, the Guardian took the Divinity with them, providing closure to the story of the Kentarch-3.

When the Guardian ventures into [[The Lunar Pyramid|the Lunar Pyramid]], the Witness takes possession of their [[The Ghost|Ghost]] and leads them to a spherical, [[Unknown Artifact|unknown artifact]]. Upon interacting with the artifact, they are subjected to a vision within the Black Garden, wherein the Witness, taking the form of the Guardian's doppelganger, speaks to them directly. Stating that they have "heard [their] cries for help" and would soon answer, the Witness identified themselves not as the Guardian's friend nor enemy, but rather their "salvation".

After bringing the artifact back to [[Eris Morn]], it begins transmitting a signal that leads to the Black Garden. A fireteam of Guardians then enter the Black Garden via a newly-discovered portal on the moon, faced the [[Consecrated Mind, Sol Inherent|Consecrated Mind]] in a labyrinth, and defeated the Sanctified Mind after it was found communing with a [[Pyramid Scale]] sighted at the garden. At the end of their journey, the fireteam traced their signal to a veiled statue identical to the one aboard the Luna Pyramid, which unlocked direct communication with the [[Darkness]] through the artifact.

However, the Vex would not take this incursion into the Black Garden lightly. The destruction of the Sol Inherent minds prompt the Witness to reawaken the Undying Mind. In turn, the Undying Mind copied itself across thousands of timelines after learning from its previous encounters; causing the Sol Divisive to invade the Moon en masse to bar entry into the Black Garden.  

After weeks of holding the Sol Divisive back, the Guardians follow Ikora's plan to use a beacon to pull one of the thousand copies of the Undying Mind from the timeways, allowing them to destroy the Axis Mind. The Guardian push forward against the latest Vex Offensive, breaching into the Black Garden once again and planting the beacon. As planned, the beacon draws a copy of the Undying Mind and after a perilous struggle, the Guardians succeed in destroying the Undying Mind. However, as thousands of copies of the Mind existed, the Guardians were forced to continually destroy the copies one by one using the same process. Eventually, every last copy of the Mind was destroyed. However, the destruction of the Undying Minds caused the [[Corridors of Time]] to fracture, which proved an opportunity for the Red Legion to split [[Mercury]] into alternate timelines with the hijacked [[Sundial]].

When the Guardian, [[Osiris]], and [[Nimbus]] learned about the Black Heart’s origins, they planned to enter the Garden to learn more. The Witness would order the Sol Divisive to destroy the Conceptual Mind due to the intel it held, but they would refuse. The Witness would send the Taken to destroy the Conceptual Mind instead, leading to the Vex and Taken engaging in conflict. The Guardian would enter the Garden, with Nimbus entering shortly after, both of them quickly discovering the Taken presence. After convincing Nimbus to return to [[Neomuna]] and to do their duty as a Cloud Strider, the Guardian would destroy the Conceptual Mind, receiving its memory core and the information it held. Osiris discovers the information the memory core held as their investigation of the Veil concludes, where the Black Heart was used to create a static in the flow of the Traveler's energy as opposed to the link the Witness desired so it could begin the [[Final Shape]].

Several moments after the Conceptual Mind was defeated, the Sol Divisive would create an Axis Mind capable of harnessing [[Ahamkara]] energies and simulating the [[Techeun]]s to stop them from recovering Riven's eggs. As the Guardian arrived too late to recover one of the eggs, the Sol Divisive would transport the egg into the Black Garden, near Taranis's corpse. Crow would track the egg and allow the Guardian to pursue them into the Garden by using Riven's accessway. They would use the sparks left behind to approach the structure resembling [[The Citadel]] from [[Venus]], unlock the paracausal locks, navigate the mist otherwise hazardous to them, defeat [[Akardon, Pitiless Mind]], and recover both Riven's egg and [[Wish-Keeper]], a gift given to them by Taranis to honor his wish to protect his and Riven's unborn whims. Riven reveals that the Black Garden was used as a lair by Taranis, just like the [[Dreaming City]] was used as a lair by her. Taranis and Riven would spend time in the Black Garden until the [[Great Ahamkara Hunt]] was commenced by [[Lightbearer]]s of the [[Last City]], when they were separated. Taranis would make a noble sacrifice at the cost of his death: he would grant his own wish to scatter the clutch. Riven would begin sending messages by having the Guardian use Wish-Keeper to form constellations around both the Black Garden and the Dreaming City, then having them visit Taranis's corpse to deliver it. As they do so, they would also build mysterious platform to access a portal above the corpse. Once all the celestal anomalies are found inside the Dreaming City and the Black Garden, the Guardian finally discovers what lies behind the portal: a symbol of the Ishtar Collective built with Vex architecture.

After some time, the Witness would instruct the Sol Divisive to recreate the Black Heart as its final attempt to keep the Guardians out of the [[The Pale Heart|Pale Heart]], with the intent to interfere in the connection between the Traveler and the Veil. It would use the Temporal Progeny, which are successors to the Sol Progeny composed of the [[Established Mind]], [[Inevitable Mind]], and [[Synchronal Mind]], to guard the Black Heart. Osiris instructed the Guardian to return to the Black Garden and remove the interference disrupting Crow's entry into the Pale Heart. They explore the Black Garden in search of its recreated Heart and after defeating the Withdrawn Mind, would return to the site where they found the Black Heart on Elsie's instruction to destroy it and allow the Traveler to heal from the fight during the Collapse. They were successful in destroying the Black Heart again by defeating the Temporal Progeny, allowing Crow to finally enter the Pale Heart.

*[[A Ranger Found]] (Quest only)

*[[Tenebrous Tunnels]] (Quest only)

*[[What Remains]] (Exotic Mission)

*[[Starcrossed]] (Exotic Mission)

*[[The Undying Mind (strike)]]

**In an article back in 2015 regarding a Bungie ride along video on Mars, it talks about a NASA Scientist Who studies Geology that found the rock formations of the Black Garden on Mars familiar, The person theorizes that the location of the Black Garden is somewhere in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_Mons Olympus Mons], which makes sense as the Tenebrous Tunnels connects all around the planet.<ref>[https://www.gamespresso.com/2015/02/nasa-scientist-thinks-that-destinys-black-garden-may-still-be-on-mars/ NASA Scientist talks about Black Garden in Mars]</ref>